October
1991 General Conference

Life in today's world can be at times so complicated and the
challenges so overwhelming as to be beyond our individual
capacity to resolve them. We all need help from the Lord. Yet
there are many individuals who don't know how to receive that
help. They feel their urgent pleas for help have often gone
unattended. How can that be when He Himself has said, "Ask,
and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you" (D&C 4:7) " Such difficulty results either
from not following His spiritual law for providing help or from
not recognizing help when it comes. Well did James observe,
"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss" (James
4:3).

True, the Lord has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive"
(D&C 4:7). But He also declared, "Behold, you have not
understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when
you took no thought save it was to ask me" (D&C 9:7).

It is evident that He intends that we do our part. But what
specifically are we to do? No one would expect to receive a
result from physical law without obeying it. Spiritual law is the
same. As much as we want help, we must expect to follow the
spiritual law that controls that help. Spiritual law is not
mysterious. It is something that we can understand. The
scriptures define it in significant detail. I will cite key
scriptures that teach how to ask for help, then summarize the
spiritual law they clarify.

Scriptural teachings

The Savior declared, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do
what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no
promise" (D&C 82:10; italics added).

John taught, "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him,
because we keep his commandments and do those things that are
pleasing in his sight" (I John 3:22; italics added).

Nephi counseled, "Do ye not remember the things which the
Lord hath said?-If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in
faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping
my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto
you" ( 1 Nephi 15:11; italics added).

The Lord has the power to bless us at any time. Yet we see
that to count on His help, we must consistently obey His
commandments.

Mormon wrote, "Behold, I say unto you that whoso
believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask
the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and
this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth"
(Mormon 9:21-, italics added).

The Savior taught:

"Remember that without faith You can do nothing;
therefore ask in faith. Trifle not with these things, do not
ask for that which you ought not" (D&C 8:10; italics
added).

"And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name,
which is right, believing, that ye shall receive, behold it
shall be given unto you" (3 Nephi 18:20: italics added).

"Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be
given unto you,that is expedient for you " (D&C
88:64; itilics added).

"If ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye
shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it
shall be done. But know this, it shall be given you what you
shall ask" (D&C 50:29-30; italics added).

These teachings of Jesus Christ emphasize that it matters very
much what we ask for and how we ask for it. I testify that when
we seek His will and do it, we will obtain the greatest blessings
in life.

Sincere gratitude is fundamental, for "in nothing doth
man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those
who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his
commandments" (D&C 59:21).

Now, to summarize, blessings come when we

* Ask the Father in the name of Christ.

* Diligently keep His commandments.

* Ask with faith in Christ.

* Ask for that which is right.

* Harden not our hearts.

* Express gratitude.

Help through priesthood blessings

One way the Lord helps us is through priesthood
blessings. When a worthy priesthood bearer is led to
pronounce specific blessings, we can be greatly comforted. Yet
there is no guarantee of outcome without effort on our part.
Appropriate use of priesthood authority opens a channel of help
where the outcome is consistent with the will of the Lord. The
blessing resolves those things which are beyond our own capacity
to influence either personally or with the help of others. Yet we
must do our part for the blessing to be realized. We must strive
to be worthy and to exercise the requisite faith to do what we
are able. Where it is intended that others help, we must use that
help also. It is through the combination of our doing what is
within our power to accomplish and the power of the Lord that the
blessing is realized.

Once I was awakened by a call from an anxious mother. Her
premature child was not expected to survive the night. She asked
for a priesthood blessing. As I approached the suffering child,
the mother stopped me, looked into my eyes, and asked, "Are
you worthy to bless my child?" That was an appropriate
question. One never feels completely worthy, but we must do our
best to be so. There came a strong prompting to bless the child
to recover. The worthy mother continued professional treatment
and exercised her faith. The Lord responded with the additional
blessing needed. And the child recovered.

A relative asked Elder Spencer W. Kimball for a blessing to
combat a crippling disease. For some time Elder Kimball prepared
himself spiritually; then, fasting, he was prompted to bless her
to be healed. Some weeks later she returned, angry and
complaining that she was "fed up" with waiting for the
Lord to give the promised relief.

He responded: "Now I understand why you have not been
blessed. You must be patient, do your part, and express gratitude
for the smallest improvement noted." She repented, followed
scrupulously his counsel, and eventually was made well.

It is a sobering responsibility for those who bear the
priesthood to act as agents of the Lord to help those in need.
That trust requires faith, worthiness, and a sensitivity to the
promptiiigs of the Spirit to communicate the will of the Lord.
Also, it is a sobering responsibility for those who receive a
blessing to exercise faith, to express gratitude for every degree
of improvement observed, and to do all within their power to
resolve the need.

Three years ago I met a young man who had been severely
injured in an accident. The medical forecast was grim. If he
survived, he could spend the rest of his life completely
paralyzed. Recently I met him again. Through the priesthood, he
had been blessed to gain the mobility needed to do all the Lord
intended he do in life. He moved his electric cart near, shook my
hand, sat upright, and broke into a broad grin. The room was
charged with his invincible spirit. His faith-and incredibly
hard, painful effort, sustained and magnified by the blessing of
the Lord-has begun a miracle. With periodic help from loving
friends, he is succeeding in a university and striving to
progress to qualify to be a missionary. I know his continued
effort will yield far greater improvement.

In striking contrast, consider another man. His first comment
to me was, "Why doesn't the Lord give me a wife?" as
though an eternal companion were a teddy bear to be acquired with
no thought of her agency.
As we spoke, it was obvious he was not doing the most fundamental
things to qualify to find a wife. He admitted that maybe he
should do something about his excessive weight, but that was
hard. His clothes were slovenly and his body so neglected that it
was difficult to stand near him. Clearly, he is not doing his
part.

How the Lord's help comes

Help from the Lord generally comes in increments. He can
immediately cure serious illnesses or disabitities, or even allow
the dead to be raised. But the general pattern is that
improvement comes in sequential steps. That plan gives us an
opportunity to discover what the Lord expects us to learn. It
requires our patience to recognize His timetable. It provides
growth from our efforts and trust in Him and the opportunity to
express gratitude for the help given.

Often we have difficulty mastering lessons the Lord wants us
to learn when things are going too well in our lives. When there
is suffering or pain, we ask ourselves a lot of questions. Some
of them ought to be: "What does the Lord want me to learn
from this experience? What do I need to do?

What do I need to change? Whom do I need to serve? Or what
characteristic must I improve?" Pondering and prayer will
help us understand what we are to learn from the challenges we
are asked to overcome.

Not all our prayers will be answered as we wish. It is not
always easy to know the will of the Lord, yet there are some
things we can be certain of. He will never ask us to do anything
that is not completely in harmony with His teachings. We cannot
count on help if we are immoral or otherwise deliberately
disobedient unless we sincerely repent. One who prays to know if
another is to be the eternal companion while violating in any
degree the law of chastity has little hope of receiving
confirmation without repentance.

"For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my
people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up
their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be
as a stumbling block before them" (Mosiah 7:29).

" But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose
of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all
diiigence of mind, he wiIl ... deliver you out of
bondage" (Mosiah 7:33).

The Lord's will is our best choice

Our earnest prayers are answered when they conform to the will
of the Lord. Since we cannot perfectly understand His will, we
must walk with faith. He is all-knowing, and His decisions are
perfect. The fact that our finite capacity does not let us
understand all of His dealings with man does not limit Him from
blessing us. His will is our best choice in life, whether or not
we fully understand it. When we act using our moral agency
wisely, the Lord will act according to His will.

We see such a limited part of the eternal plan He has
fashioned for each one of us. Trust Him, even when in eternal
perspective it temporarily hurts very much. Have patience when
you are asked to wait when you want immediate action. He may ask
you to do things which are powerfully against your will. Exercise
faith and say, "Let Thy will be done." Such
experiences, honorably met, prepare you and condition you for yet
greater blessings. As your Father, His purpose is your eternal
happiness, your continuing development, your increasing capacity.
His desire is to share with you all that He has. The path you are
to walk through life may be very different from others. You may
not always know why He does what He does, but you can know that
He is perfectly just and perfectly merciful. He would have you
suffer no consequence, no challenge, endure no burden that is
superfluous to your good.

The Lord will help you

To gain unshakable faith in Jesus Christ is to flood your life
with brilliant light. You are no longer alone to struggle with
challenges you know you cannot resolve or control yourself, for
He said, "If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to
do whatsoever thing is expedient in me" (Moroni 7:33;
italics added).

If you are despondent, racked by transgression, are ill,
alone, or desperately in need of comfort and support, I solemnly
testify that the Lord will help you when you carefully obey the
spiritual law upon which that help is predicated. He is your
Father. You are His child. He loves you. He will never let you
down. I know He will bless you, in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.